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Background
The 2003 Regulation on banning the removal of shark fins on board vessels generally bans finning, but it allows by exemption and under certain conditions, the removal of fins aboard vessels and to land fins and shark carcasses in different ports if the weight of the fins do not exceed 5 per cent of the live weight of the sharks caught.
However, this measure has proven not effective enough. As fins and bodies can be landed in different ports, inspectors must rely on logbook records to determine whether the ratio had been respected. Also, fin-to-carcass weight varies according to species and fin-cutting practices and consequently, shark finning is difficult to detect, let alone to prove in legal proceedings.
Last but not least, collecting scientific data becomes difficult, which in turn hampers fisheries management and conservation.
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